Team Notes: Clarkson Plays at St. Lawrence in Rare Tuesday Game

With two games against its archrival this week, the Clarkson University Hockey team will look to go into the exam/holiday break by posting a pair of victories over St. Lawrence University. The Golden Knights, guided by first-year head coach Casey Jones and assistant coaches Phil Roy ’00 and Andy Jones, travel to Canton, NY on Tuesday night for an ECAC Hockey contest against the Saints in Appleton Arena, beginning at 7:00 p.m. The Green and Gold will then face off in non-league action against St. Lawrence in Lake Placid on Saturday in the second game of the Festivus Faceoff at Herb Brooks Arena, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Clarkson, led by senior captain Jake Morley (Ogdensburg, NY) and assistant captains, grad student Nick Tremblay (Candiac, QUE) and sophomore Ben Sexton (Kanata, ONT),  stands at 8-6-4 overall and is in a three-way tie for ninth place in ECAC Hockey with a 2-4-2 league mark.

Despite two good efforts over the weekend, the Knights came away with just one point in conference play in Central NY. On Friday, Clarkson played 14th-ranked Colgate even for much of the game, but the Raiders rallied late with three unanswered goals to pull out a 4-2 win in Hamilton. Against 17th-ranked Cornell on Saturday, the Green and Gold played a strong disciplined, defensive game, backstopped by a solid 32-save effort from senior goaltender Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT), and skated to a 0-0 tie against the Big Red at Lynah Rink. Clarkson, in the middle of a nine-game road trip, is 2-4-4 away from Cheel Arena.

St. Lawrence suffered a sweep over the weekend, losing to Cornell 1-0 and Colgate 6-2. The Saints have lost three straight after winning five of their previous six games. St. Lawrence, which started the season at 0-5, owns a 5-9 overall record and is in a three-way tie for third place in the conference standings with a 4-4 ECAC Hockey mark. The Saints are 3-5 at home.

The Series:

The Golden Knights hold an overwhelming 114-64-9 series lead against the Saints, which began with a 1-0 Clarkson victory during the 1925-26 season. In 2010-11, Clarkson defeated St. Lawrence three times in one season for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign. The Green and Gold are 17-15-2 against their archrival in games played during the 2000s.

Last year, Clarkson knocked off the Saints 2-1 in overtime for a non-league victory in Lake Placid on October 30 with Matt Zarbo netting the winning goal in overtime. The Knights gained a 3-1 ECAC Hockey win at Cheel Arena on November 20 and closed out the conference series with a 2-1 triumph at Appleton Arena on February 16.

St. Lawrence’s last win in the rivalry was a 3-2 victory in the ECAC playoffs first-round on March 7, 2010 in Canton, which clinched a first-round series for the Saints. In 2009-10 the North Country foes skated in six games with St. Lawrence coming out on top 3-2-1. The teams went 1-1-1 in three regular-season games and the Saints won the playoff series 2-1.

Nick Tremblay leads the Green and Gold in scoring against the Saints with six points on three goals and three assists through 13 games. Jake Morley and Matt Zarbo have also scored three goals each against the Saints. Paul Karpowich posts a .926 save percentage, a 2.30 goals against average and a 6-5-1 record.

Knight Notes:

Clarkson has five shutouts on the year, the most since the Knights posted six in 2007-08 ... Paul Karpowich, who has played every minute in the Clarkson crease, is ranked among the Top 5 goalies in Division I with a .944 SV% (2nd), a 1.76 GAA and five shutouts (T-2nd).